Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States
The postage stamps and postal system of the Confederate States of America carried the mail of the Confederacy for a brief period in American history. Early in 1861 when South Carolina territory no longer considered itself part of the Union and demanded that the U.S. Army abandon Fort Sumter, plans for a Confederate post office were already underway. On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War officially began when the Confederate Army fired upon US soldiers who had refused to abandon the Fort. In the few weeks before actual war broke out a Confederate Post Office had already been established on February 21, 1861, and by June 1, 1861 had assumed responsibility for postal service among the seceded states. The new Confederate government was now faced with the task of providing postage stamps and mail services for its citizens. The CSA Constitution provided for a national postal service to be established, then required it to be self financing beginning March 1, 1863 (Section 8. Powers of Congress, Item 7). President Jefferson Davis had appointed John Henninger Reagan on March 6, 1861 to head the new Confederate States of America Post-office Department. However, the United States Post Office Department continued to handle the mail of the seceded states as usual until June 1, 1861, when the Confederate postal service took over. Beginnings At the onset of the Civil War the US Post Office still delivered mail from the succeeded states for a brief period of time. Mail that was postmarked after the date of a state’s admission into the Confederacy through May 31, 1861 and bearing US (Union) Postage are considered 'Confederate State Usage of U.S. Stamps'. i.e.Confederate covers franked with Union stamps. After this time private express companies still managed to carry the mail across enemy lines. The three major express companies in operation throughout the south were Adams Express, American Letter Express, and Whiteside's Express. They operated freely for approximately two months when the U.S. Post Office ordered an end to such traffic, effective August 26, 1861. Mail destined to states that were not among their own unions now had to be sent by Flag of Truce, although some express companies still continued to run their mail operations illegally. Mail was also smuggled in and out by blockade-running ships which were often captured or destroyed by Union ships on blockade patrol. Because of their brief existence and the lack of official and other records, relatively little is known about the operation of the Confederate post offices in many regions of the south. Existing data has been studied by several experts in the field who have reconstructed an account of their existence and operation largely from surviving Confederate covers (stamped-addressed envelopes) and by researchers of advanced students of Confederate philately as Colonel Harvey E. Sheppard, United States Army, Fort Hood, Texas; the late Van Dyk MacBride, Newark, New Jersey; George N. Malpass, St. Petersburg, Florida; Earl Antrim, Nampa, Idaho; David Kohn, Washington, D. C., and a few others, each contributing material in the concerted effort to create an overall account of Confederate postal history. Confederate Post Office One of the first undertakings in establishing the Confederate Post Office was the appointment of John H. Reagan (1818–1905) to Postmaster General, by Jefferson Davis in 1861, making him the first Postmaster General of the newly formed Confederate post office. Reagan was a Democratic Congressman and then Senator from Texas. Upon appointment Reagan became a close friend of Davis and was Postmaster General for the duration of the war, making him the only PMG of the short-lived Confederacy. Reagan was an able administrator, presiding over the only CSA cabinet department that functioned well during the war. It established new rates: 5¢ (equal to $ }} today) per half-ounce under 500 miles, 10¢ per half-ounce over 500 miles, 2¢ for drop letters and circulars. Later the under-500-mile rate was raised to 10¢ also. There was a 50¢ rate for express mail, and after 1863 a 40¢ rate for Trans-Mississippi mail to cover the costs of smuggling the mail through a Federal blockade that operated along the entire length of the lower Mississippi River. At the beginning of the war, Union blockades prevented supplies from reaching their destinations in the South, which from time to time resulted in the shortage of postage stamps, paper and other basic supplies that were much needed throughout the Confederate states. Although the Confederate government had contracted for the printing of its own stamps, they were not yet available on June 1, forcing postmasters all over the South to improvise. Most of the time they simply went back to the old practice of accepting payment in cash and applying a "PAID" hand-stamp to the envelope. However, a number of postmasters, particularly those in the larger cities, could not afford to be handling long lines of cash customers, and developed a variety of Postmaster's provisionals. These took a variety of forms, from envelopes prestamped with a postmark modified to say "paid" or an amount, to regular stamps produced by local printers. Some are today among the great rarities of philately. Confederate postage Within a month after the appointment of Reagan as Postmaster General, he ordered that ads be placed in both Southern and Northern newspapers seeking sealed proposals from printing companies who were interested in printing postage stamps for the Confederate States. The Confederate Post Office received bids from companies in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Newark, New Orleans and Richmond. After the war started, it became evident that the contract to print Confederate postage stamps should go to a Confederate firm. The Confederate Post Office Department therefore awarded the contract to lithographers Hoyer & Ludwig, a small firm in Richmond. The stamps they produced were inferior in image quality compared to the engraved printings that Washington and the US Post Office have always issued, but with what resources they had, they produced some handsome images by many accounts. The first Confederate postage issues were placed in circulation in October of 1861, five months after postal service between the North and South ended. Jefferson Davis is depicted on the first issue of 1861. The appearance of Davis on a postage stamp, a living person at the time of printing, marked a break from the tradition adhered to by the US Post Office, that no living person is honored on US postage or currency. Provisional stamps During the five months between the time the US Post office withdrew its services from the succeeding states and when the first Confederate postage stamps were issued, postmasters throughout the Confederacy used temporary substitutes for postage. Postmasters had to improvise, and used various methods to apply confirmation of postage to mailed covers, ranging from creating their own adhesive postage stamps to marking letters with rate-altered hand-stamps or simply marking the letters “Paid” in manuscript. These issues are known to collectors as 'Postmaster Provisionals', so-called because they were used 'provisionally' until the first Confederate general postage stamp issues appeared. Some Confederate post offices would experience shortages in postage stamps and would return to the use of Provisional stamps and hand-stamps at later dates. There are many dozens of types of Provisioanl stamps and hand-stamps from different towns and cities about the Confederacy. In some circles, Postmaster Provisionals are referred to as 'locals' since they were intended only for use from the town in which they were issued.Postmaster Provisionals, National Postal Museum Postage stamps The Confederate States of America existed for only a few brief years, during which time they were only able to issue a modest number of postage stamps, nine basic types in all. During the four years of its brief existence, the Confederate Post Office contracted with five different printing companies to produce postage stamps: Archer & Daly of Richmond, Hoyer & Ludwig of Richmond, Virginia, J.T. Paterson & Co. of Augusta, Georgia, Thomas de la Rue & Co., Ltd., of London, England; Virginia, and Keatinge & Ball of Columbia, South Carolina. They employed all three methods of printing commonly in use at that time: lithography, typography and line-engraving. The first Confederate Postage stamps were issued and placed in circulation on October 16, 1861, five months after postal service between the North and South had been suspended. * The first postage stamp issued by the Confederate States was a 5¢ green depicting Jefferson Davis. It was printed by the lithograph process by Hoyer and Ludwig of Richmond, Virginia. Like almost all Confederate issues, these stamps were imperforate and single stamps had to be cut from the sheet with scissors. * a 10¢ blue with Thomas Jefferson, designed by Charles Ludwig of Hoyer & Ludwig, Richmond, Virginia. This issue was printed by two different printing companies: Hoyer & Ludwig and J. T. Paterson & Co. of Augusta, Georgia, printed this design. The image of Thomas Jefferson used on both printings was the same engraved image that was used on the U.S. 5-cent issue of 1851. Secret marks were added by Paterson to the transfer stones to distinguish it from the Hoyer & Ludwig prints of the same design. The most typical use was for the ten-cent rate after July 1, 1862. * De La Rue also printed a 1¢ orange depicting John C. Calhoun, but they were never put into use. Jean Ferdinand Joubert De La Ferte (1810–1884) designed and engraved the CSA 1-cent John C. Calhoun issue. The framework design of this issue is identical to the one used for the Jefferson Davis 5-cent issue. * In 1862, a 2¢ stamp of Andrew Jackson appeared, in green and were issued imperforate. This issue was lithographed by Hoyer & Ludwig of Richmond, Virginia. Just one transfer stone used in this printing. The earliest known usage of this stamp was March 21, 1862. Sheets of this issue consisted of two panes of 100 stamps each arranged in two blocks of fifty (10X5) taken from the 50-subject transfer stone with a wide vertical gutter between panes. Also issued in 1863 was a 10-cent stamp bearing the profile image of Jefferson Davis in blue. This issue was designed and engraved on steel by John Archer and transferred to either copper plates or steel plates. Many shades of blue exist for these stamps from light milky blue to cobalt blue as well as many shades that tend toward greenish blue and green. There are four similar designs of engraved ten cent stamps. Jefferson Davis, 10-cent types of 1863-64 * The easiest to distinguish from the other three has the value expressed as "TEN". The portrait of Jefferson Davis was designed and line engraved by John Archer, and then transferred to a copper plate. This issue was imperforate and was printed on soft, porous paper of varying thickness and with colorless gum. The earliest recorded usage is April 23, 1863. Colors variations occur from from dark-blue to gray-blue. * The next easiest to distinguish is the one with the value expressed as "10" and has straight lines enclosing the design in a rectangle. There are several distinct shades of blue that occur in this printing. The earliest recorded usage is April 23, 1863. All of these were printed by Archer and Daly of Richmond. * Type I Printed by Archer & Daly, Bank Note Engravers, Richmond, Va this same design, without the rectangle enclosing it. This is the same engraving as the “Frame Line” issue but without the frame lines. There were approximately 23,800,000 stamps printed from two plates, each with two panes of one hundred. The earliest recorded usage is April 21, 1863. * Type II is very similar to type I. Frederick Halpin designed and engraved the image of Jefferson. The corner ornaments are filled and it shows a faint line that follows the outside of the design and encloses it. There us a light outer line framing the entire design. The plates for the Archer & Daly stamps were moved from Richmond to Columbia, South Carolina, when the fall of Richmond became eminent in late 1864. The company of Keatinge & Ball then printed the stamps. A small number of the third and fourth varieties were perforated and released for use by the Confederate Post Office Department in 1864. * A 20¢ stamp with George Washington also came out in 1863 and saw limited use, but genuinely used copies are today worth 10 times more than mint copies.1-cent John C. Calhoun, National Postal Museum * In 1863, a new design of the 2¢ Jackson appeared, engraved in steel and printed in pale red with the second printing being in brown red. * A new 5¢ stamp of Davis was also issued in large quantities, with 12,000,000 produced by De La Rue in London, and over 36,000,000 by Archer and Daly in Richmond. The Archer and Daly stamps were initially printed on paper supplied by De La Rue and later on Confederate paper. Later printings tend be quite coarse and individual examples may exhibit blank areas in the design from plate damage or filled in areas due to plate wear. (Today they can be purchased for approximately US$10 depending on condition.) The framework design of this issue is identical to the one used for the Calhoun 1-cent issue. Covers A considerable number of Confederate covers (i.e. stamped - addressed envelope) survived the American Civil War and the many years since they were mailed, and since then have been avidly sought after and preserved by historians and collectors alike. The American Civil War had divided family members and friends across the country and letter writing naturally increased dramatically, especially to and from the men who were away serving in an army. Letters written by soldiers reveal how they would frequently ask parents, wives and family members to write often and to also ask others to write letters back to them. As mail sent to and from the soldiers became more commonplace in the mail stream of the divided states, various Christian charity groups provided pens, paper and envelopes for the soldiers in response to their constant need for these items, since soldiers on active duty during war time rarely had the opportunity to buy these things. The variety of mail from this time period provides the student of Civil War history with an excellent cross-reference of the history involved then. American Civil War Soldier Letters Home; AmericanCivilWar.com Special categories of interest include covers to and from soldiers, patriotic covers, prisoner-of-war covers, Flag of Truce and through-the-lines mail, and mail carried by blockade runners to and from Europe, and a variety of other types. All of these specialties have been intensively studied. Although contemporary official records are often fragmentary or missing, and many details remain unclear, the covers with their addresses, dated postmarks, special markings and the letters themselves have provided much insight for historians and collectors in their studies of Civil War postal history. Some forging of material went on in the late 19th century, and authentication is a challenge for experts. As a rule of thumb a collector should be wary of fancy cancels on Confederate mail as the CSA Post Office never used fancy cancels. Other common types of forgeries include added stamps to a cover and forged postmarks. Another common oversight of the forger is postmarking stamps with dates before the stamp was issued. Many collectors over the years have marked or destroyed fakes and forgeries upon identification in an effort to keep the collecting pool safe from such material. This is a practice common to most of philately. Prisoner of war mail During the American Civil War the number of Union and Confederate soldiers in prisoner of war camps would reach an astonishing one and a half million men. The prison population at the Andersonville Confederate POW camp alone reached 45,000 men by the war's end. At the onset of the war the United States did not recognize the legitimacy of the Confederate States and refused to establish a system that allowed for a formal prisoner and mail exchange. By the summer of 1862, more than a year into the war, prison populations in the north were at alarming proportions and the US government began to see the necessity of a prisoner and mail exchange system. On July 2, 1862 it signed what was referred to as a Prisoner exchange cartel and by September of that year prison populations were almost emptied. However, as the war dragged on the US government had increasing distrust for the Confederate government and stopped the prisoner and mail exchanges in June 1863, less than a year after it had signed the exchange agreement. in Georgia.]] Flag of Truce mail exchanges resumed a month later and was used until the end of the war. Prisoner mail that was carried by Flag-of-Truce had to be put in an unsealed envelope with address and postage for delivery on the other side, then placed in an outer cover for delivery to the exchange point where the outer envelope would be destroyed and the inner envelope containing the prisoner's letter was inspected. The letter would then be placed in and sealed in the stamped addressed envelope and hand-stamped indicating that the item had been inspected. Often times correspondents did not observe the two-envelope regulation so there are examples of covers where instead of an inner and outer envelope arrangement both US and Confederate postage was applied to the prisoner's letter and where both US and Confederate markings were applied. These covers are often referred to as dual-use postage covers Mail exchange between the divided states was only allowed to cross the lines at specified exchange points. Mail which was going from the North destined to points in the South passed primarily at City Point, Virginia, while most of the mail going from the South to the North passed through at Fortress Monroe, Virginia and usually bear an Old Point Comfort postmark. , detained at Libby Prison no Confederate stamp/inspection markings; received w/US postmarks, Christmas Day, 1863, w/ 'Due 3' hand-stamp]] A prisoner's cover was usually docketed with the prisoner's name, rank, and company. The marking, "Examined", on the face of the cover, usually in manuscript, indicated that the cover had been opened and examined by prison officials. Once at the exchange point, the outer envelope was removed and discarded while the inner cover containing the prisoner's letter was examined by military officials and delivered. There also exist covers that were carried to transfer points by exchanged prisoners and consequently bear no confederate examiner's markings. Mail to and from the various military prison camps of the American Civil War is one of the most intriguing and challenging areas in Civil War postal history. Letters addressed to the various prisoner of war prisons are in most cases much scarcer than letters sent from from these facilities. The south had its paper shortages and because Confederate prisons limited the amount of correspondence mail from Confederate prisons is much rarer than mail from Union prisons. , October 26, 1864]] , prison for Confederate Officers, May 12, 1863]] Prisoner of war prisons and camps Both sides were ill prepared to deal with the very large numbers of captured troops early in the American Civil War and for a time used a prisoner exchange program that lasted until June of 1863 when the U.S. Government terminated prisoner and mail exchange due to increased mistrust. The postmarks and stampings found on war-time mail from military prisons and camps during the American Civil War are sought after by historians and collectors not only for their souvenir value but also as confirmation that various people, events and places existed at the time of mailing indicated by the name, address, postmark and other official markings. The mailed covers often bear the postmark of the nearest town or city from where the prison or camp was located. The study of Civil War time postmarks in this area involves a great volume of material covering town names, history, rarity, types of postmarks and other official markings on Civil War mail. Below is a partial list of some of the larger prison facilities in operation during the war. There were also prison facilities that only housed a few dozen prisoners. Consequently surviving POW mail to or from these places is exceedingly rare. Blockade mail At the onset of the American Civil War it was imperative for the Confederacy to get crucial correspondence to suppliers and other mail into and out of the country. On April 19, 1861 President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade along the entire coast line of the Confederacy to prevent it from obtaining supplies and to prevent it from communicating with the rest of the world by means of mail. Twelve major ports and approximately 3,500 miles of coastline along the Confederate States were patrolled by some 500 ships that were commissioned by the US Navy, however some accounts vary considerably and place the number of commissioned ships for blockade patrol at about 200, taking into account the high numbers of Union ships that were withdrawn from blockaded duty for repairs. The blockade played a major role in the Union's victory over the Confederate states. By the end of the Civil War the Union Navy had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355 vessels. The Union blockade reduced cotton exports, a vital source of revenue for the south, to a fraction of what it was prior to the war, as well as preventing much of its mail from being sent or received. -- (See also: Anaconda Plan) -- In response to the blockade various specially built steamers were built and put to use by British investors who had great stocks invested in the cotton and tobacco trade. These vessels were typically smaller and lighter in weight often giving them an advantage of maneuverability and record speeds of up to 17 knots which enabled them to evade or out run Union ships on patrol. Their cargoes were usually small, light-weight and often included mail. During the beginning of the war getting a ship through the Union blockade was easier, but as the war transpired the number of Union patrolling ships increased while veteran crews were getting experienced and growing wiser to the evasive tactics employed by blockade-runners. To escape detection Blockade-runners would often try to get the mail and cargo through by making night runs, especially when the moon was new. Many of the vessels were also painted a dark gray color to help them blend in with the backdrop of the night sea, a practice that earned these vessels the nick-name of Greyhounds. Some of the steamers also burned a smokeless anthracite coal which greatly reduced their profile against the horizon. However as the war went on the prospect of getting a ship through diminished greatly and many of these ships faced capture or destruction, their cargoes and mail never reaching their ports of destination. As many of the vessels used as blockade-runners were built in England for British investors the captured crews and passengers were usually British also. The cargo aboard was rewarded to the captain and crew of the capturing vessel, it is assumed as an added incentive for captains and crews on blockade patrolling ships to be extra vigilant. Mail was also confiscated and sometimes used as evidence against the parties involved with the ship and its cargo. (figure 2) Consequently inbound covers that were prepared by forwarding agents for transfer to and delivery within the Confederacy never received various postmarks or other markings from the Confederate post office. The principal transfer points for mail arriving from or destined to Europe and other locations were Nassau in the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Cuba. Ships carrying letters that were addressed to points in the Confederacy would deposit their cargo of mail at one of these transfer points. Here the inbound mail was handled by a forwarding agent who would remove the mail or inner cover and prepare it for transfer on a blockade runner. Often times the forwarding agents would apply their own markings to the cover of mail. Mail placed aboard a blockade runner would then, perhaps with some luck, make its way to the ports of New Orleans, Charleston or Wilmington where it was received by Confederate postal operators who would then include it in with the regular Confederate mail for delivery. The captain of the blockade runner would typically get two cents for every letter he delivered to port, which was a nominal sum as his main source of revenue was from delivering his cargo. The average number of successful runs by a blockade runner was only about four, many of them meeting a fateful ending on their first run. Various ports along the coastline of the Confederacy saw the most traffic from blockade runners. Charleston in South Carolina was particularly well situated as a port for blockade runners with their shallow drafts, as was the Port in Wilmington in North Carolina which saw the most traffic. Because the lower Mississippi River was being blockaded effectively dividing the Western Confederate states from those east, New Orleans became one of the busiest of ports. Consequently many blockade covers have postmarks from these locations. Among the most notable blockade runners were steamers like The Syren, a 169-foot steel-hulled sidewheel steamer that made a record 33 successful runs through the union blockade. Another steamer called The Alice, a 177-foot steel-hulled vessel, made 24 successful runs, while The Kate, a wooded hulled steamer, made 20 successful runs before being run aground in November of 1862. It is likely that most of the blockade runners brought mail into to the Confederate mail stream as the Confederate states were in dire need of basic supplies, the procurement of which was conducted through mailed correspondence. The various cargoes would likely have mail attached to them to notify various parties that their shipment has arrived at port. Today, Confederate blockade covers are highly sought after by collectors and historians who often regard these mailings as figurative time-stamps and historical confirmation that various people, ships and post offices existed in and among these times and places. Patriotic covers The years during the American Civil War were a period marked with strong sentiments and loyalties towards both sides involved, and this sentiment is clearly displayed on various Civil War correspondence known to collectors and historian as Patriotic Covers. Citizens, many of whom had family members and friends off fighting in the war, or who had died in battle, often expressed their loyalties with envelopes illustrated with flags, portraits, slogans and allegorical figures such as that of Liberty, which clearly captured the sentiments of that time. This practice was most evident in the North where there were many printers, especially in the larger cities, who produced an assortment of envelopes that proudly displayed these designs and which quickly became popular among the citizenry. The situation in the south was quite different. The demand for printers in the agrarian south was much less and consequently printers were often scarce in that part of the country. The South also lacked the North's industrialized advantages and supplies and so Confederate patriotic covers are rare and most often quite valuable. Patriotic Covers from Smithsonian National Postal MuseumFrajola, Patriotic Covers Adversity covers Due to the Union blockade the south was unable to get many needed basic supplies including paper and as such envelopes and writing paper were scarce throughout most of the south. People would reuse old paper and envelopes, bags, old forms and sometimes would use wallpaper to construct envelopes with. These covers are usually referred to by collectors as adversity covers. Mourning covers : Mourning covers are also widely collected. These are covers which bear signs of sympathy or recognition of an adverse event. The most common type of adversity cover that occurs in Civil War postal history, Confederate or Union, are what is referred to by collectors as Mourning covers. Many families shared in the loss of loved ones and friends who died in battle during the four year war. Letters of sympathy were often sent between family members and friends. The covers often bear various markings, usually pen inscribed by the sender. One of the most common markings found on these covers is the symbolic black border put about the outer face of the envelope. As many thousands of men died during the war the black border became common place in the Union and Confederate mail streams and in Civil War philately. Mourning covers, Frajola exhibit Adversity Covers, Smithsonian National Postal Museum Manuscript covers :Manuscript covers are addressed envelopes that were designated as Paid or where the amount of postage due was hand-written with pen and ink. Manuscript markings can also be found along with various hand-stamp markings, or in combination with postage stamps, which were sometimes applied prior to or after the manuscript marking(s). If the manuscript cover was mail carried by a blockade runner, the cover is usually referred to then as a blockade cover, and so forth with patriotic and other covers. Postal History Gallery See also * Confederate States of America * US Presidents on US postage stamps, Civil War era * Postage stamps and postal history of the United States * Fortress Monroe * Old Point Comfort * Fort Delaware * Johnson's Island * USS Hartford (1858) on blockade patrol * August Dietz, publisher of Confederate States of America postal history * Lawrence L. Shenfield, author of Confederate States of America: The Special Postal Routes (1961) References External links *[http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=159179&img=1&pg=1 Smithsonian National Postal Museum] Confederate hand-stamp cover collection *Confederate Stamp Alliance homepage *[http://www.censusdiggins.com/civil_war_prisons.html Civil War Prisons] *[http://www.mycivilwar.com/pow/pow.htm Prisoner of War Camps] *Postal History of Vicksburg *Sons of Confederate Veterans *[http://www.csalliance.org/csa-7.htm The Confederate Philatelist] *[http://www.webuystamps.com/articles.htm Civil War Postal History Articles and Resources, by Patricia A. Kaufmann] *[http://www.csalliance.org/Kimbrough.htm Confederate Stamp Alliance, John L. Kimbrough, MD, Conrad L Bush] *Adam's Express Company Other Sources * August Dietz, Postal Service of the Confederate States of America (1929) - the standard work on Confederate philately * Dietz Confederate States Catalog and Hand-Book (1931–1986) * Encyclopaedia of Postal History * Stuart Rossiter & John Flower: The Stamp Atlas * Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues * Civil War Prisons and Their Covers by Earl Antrim * Prisoners' Mail from the American Civil War, by Galen D. Harrison. Union and Confederate Civil War covers from prisoners of war in 83 Union and 58 Confederate Prisons, compiled from a total over 2,700 covers. * The Handbook of Civil War Patriotic Envelopes and Postal History, Grant, 1977 Confederate States Category:United States Postal Service Category:Confederate States of America Category:American Civil War prison camps fr:Histoire philatélique et postale des États confédérés d'Amérique